Of those two types of sites, one is more likely to get your business. Can you guess which?
The site with best mobile experience.
It’s like anything else in business – make it easy for the customer to buy 100% of the time. Remove all barriers in getting to the point of sale. Make the process simple, and they’ll not only buy, but they’ll want to come back and buy again. The urgency of these “business basics” is only amplified on mobile, a.k.a. The Land of Instant Gratification. On mobile, consumers want ultra fast, simple, intuitive web experiences to get what they want – RIGHT NOW.
How do you find out if you are losing potential business on mobile?
If you haven’t visited your website on a mobile browser, such as Safari on iOS (iPhone) or Google Chrome on Android, give it a try. How does it look? Can you read the text? Can you click the buttons? Is it obvious what you are supposed to do? Or how you can quickly get in touch, find an answer, or buy your product?
If not, you aren’t alone – over 86 percent of small businesses don’t have a mobile website or tablet-friendly website. That’s no excuse to ignore it!
After testing your site on mobile, analyze the percentage of visits – and business – you are losing because of your website through your website statistics program (hopefully Google Analytics). You can also ask your staff to keep their ears open for customers complaining about using the mobile website – sometimes this is the best evidence. If current customers are saying it, imagine all the complaints you’ll never get a chance to hear.
Example 1: Restaurant with huge online ordering business can only cater to desktop customers
A client ignored didn’t want the additional cost and unknown return of a mobile website.
“We’ll do it later, when we know for sure that we have people visiting on mobile,” was the ownership’s collective decision.
Known for their easy online ordering, which generates hundreds of orders each month and eases up the phone lines, it’s been great for everyone – except mobile visitors. Online ordering doesn’t work on mobile. Over time, the number of mobile visitors has grown, and complaints from customers who wanted to order online from their phone but couldn’t flooded in. We helped them find out just how many visitors they were “turning away” on mobile.
Ok. I’m losing business on mobile. What do I do about it?
If you want to capture leads from mobile visitors, or capture leads in general if you aren’t already, it’s time to invest in mobile website design. Contact your web professional (don’t have one? Let’s talk…) and ask to see their portfolio of mobile website design work. Check some of the pages out on your mobile device and ask these questions as you review.
- Is the site easy to use?
- Can you find useful information easily?
- Does it solve visitor’s problems, or make the solution clear & easy to find?
- Is it apparent how to contact the company or purchase a product?
We are a mobile society, and small businesses must meet mobile users’ needs. Don’t lose another visitor or any more revenue because of a poor mobile website experience. That’s just embarrassing!